


The Bacchae & Identity

by Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts



Category: Bacchae - Euripides, Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22422424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts/pseuds/Littlebluejay_hidingpeanuts
Summary: Essay on sexual identity for the characters Pentheus and Dionysus within The Bacchae.
Kudos: 6





	The Bacchae & Identity

The Bacchae is an old story, so old that the date of its creation is unknown, though the first performance of this play was produced after the writer, Euripides’ death in 405 BC (Storey 274). This makes approaching the play with a modern interpretation something of a paradox. Approaching any ancient literature with modern theory is difficult because of the “age difference.” It is the same problem every little kid has in relating to their grandparents. They were not raised with cellphones and telephones as the child was. The same thing applies with the  Bacchae . Ancient Greeks had no concept of “homosexual.” The term was not created until 1892 by Charles Gilbert Chaddock (Duberman 38). So, how can we use modern queer theory to investigate the  Bacchae ? The same way that grandparents learn to use the internet: adaptation. This is not to say there will not be problems. The theories will need to be adjusted. Grandparents still call up their grandchildren for help on how to work Facebook, and they satisfactorily embarrass us all with baby pictures and daily reports about their cats. It would simply be wrong to say such an investigation would be foolish. We will just have to tread carefully, and respectfully acknowledge the differences within Ancient Greek culture. 

The first conflict in our approach is whether or not homosexuality existed at all for the Ancient Greeks. If the word did not exist in 405 BC, does this mean that a person loving on a romantic level and engaging in sexual acts with a person of the same gender did not exist? It is a question of does the word create the concept or does the concept predate the word. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet after all ( Romeo and Juliet).  John Boswell agrees that homosexuality existed and thrived before the word was created. According to Boswell, “Lack of attention to something in historical sources can in no wise be taken as evidence of its nonexistence, and discovery can not be equated with creation or invention” (Duberman 22). He says that there was an “extreme sexual tolerance [in] ancient societies,” but that, “nearly all societies [...] regulate sexual behavior in someway” (Duberman 26 & 30). The appropriate sexual roles for men, for example, in Ancient Rome were all penetrative, active, and giving of seed. It would be inappropriate for a free adult male to receive the seed in any way (Duberman 33). This perpetuates the strong male stereotype which comes into play in the  Bacchae,  but in no way denies a male to male sexual relationship. It is inappropriate for a proper male citizen to be the “bottom” in the relationship, but slaves and youths could take this role. Pederasty works on the basis of education. The adult male would teach the youth a trade as well as the act of sex. This “beautiful youth” was a young man with delicate features right around the age of puberty. They are essentially feminine males. Male beauty was not looked down upon in Ancient Greece. This pederastic relationship operates within the  Bacchae. Dionysus appears in disguise as a mortal priest of Dionysus, specifically a beautiful youth. Pentheus is the stereotypical Grecian fee male. The implication then is that Pentheus might enter into a pederastic relationship with the disguised Dionysus. He is tempted, but not enough to give in right away. Pentheus’ power lies in control and restriction whereas Dionysus has power in the lack of control. As it is clear that the Greeks believed “the division of labor” in sexual acts “was a more pressing concern and attracted more analytical attention,” Pentheus’ focus is more on his position of power, whether giving or receiving, rather than on Dionysus’ gender (Duberman 33). From this standpoint, the Ancient Greeks had homosexual relationships that were accepted in their society. They simply were not called homosexual relationships. 

In the  Bacchae , Pentheus seems to deny his sexual desires, and so denies his own identity. He creates the false identity of the superior masculine and restrictive leader. He is freed of this mask when he gives into what he believes are unconventional gender roles by cross-dressing. Dionysus is the embodiment of what Pentheus perceives as unconventional. He tempts Pentheus with Pentheus’ “unnatural” desire to be a “woman,” or homosexual, attracted to a man while still punishing Pentheus for not sacrificing to him. Dionysus has his own motivations for wanting to hurt Pentheus, and uses Pentheus’ unwanted desires and hidden identity to prey upon him. “At the heat of  Bacchae is the very question of identity. Who am I?” (Hall 65). They both create their identities: Dionysus by appearing as a human youth and Pentheus by taking on a female persona. 

The modern interpretation is that Pentheus desires Dionysus and wants to be in a homosexual relationship with the god, but is trapped in a heteronormative society. It is this hidden desire that keeps Pentheus from getting married. Modern queer theory would argue that Pentheus is in a homosexual panic when confronted with Dionysus and his maenads, and is stuck “in the closet.” Pentheus is hiding his gay identity. While this argument is perfectly apt in regards to the  Bacchae,  it does not take into account Greek society. The homosexual relationship Pentheus enters into with Dionysus is not only accepted, but encouraged by Cadmus, Pentheus’ father, and Tiresias. They tell him, “Join us in paying homage to Dionysus!” (Harris 538). They call him a fool for not participating in the Bacchic revels. But in participating, Pentheus would lose his all-important control. It is not the homosexual relationship that Pentheus fears. Instead, Pentheus hides away his desire to be the receiver of seed, or “bottom,” in the relationship. 

Pentheus is in power as the king of Thebes. He has power as a free adult male citizen of Ancient Greece. He desires to lose this power, to be below Dionysus, and give up control, but this is inappropriate for a proper male. So, Pentheus abstains, and turns against Dionysus, declaring that he will “put a stop to this orgiastic filth” (Harris 535). You know a paper is going well when you get to use words like “receiver of seed” and “orgiastic filth.” Pentheus takes his power in his control of Thebes. This power is not built upon desire. Dionysus, on the other hand, receives power from desire. According to Foucault, “Sexuality must not be described as a stubborn drive, by nature alien and of necessity disobedient to a power which exhausts itself trying to subdue it and often fails to control it entirely. It appears rather as an especially dense transfer point for relations of power” (Foucault 103). This is exactly Pentheus and Dionysus. Pentheus wants control over the havoc Dionysus has created, and tries to subdue the god through the use of his power as king of Thebes. He sees Dionysus as disobedient to his will, and exhausts himself in trying to capture him. Dionysus operates within a different power structure. Dionysus is a god, not a human, thus his “strange body, neither male nor female, render[s] almost immaterial” the gender structures of the human world (Theodoridou 78). As a god, what does he care for heteronormativity? Dionysus’ power comes from the worship of his followers. He is angry at Pentheus because Pentheus’ refusal to worship him is not only a denial of the power Dionysus holds, but it lessens the power Dionysus holds. Dionysus also gives power to his followers. He creates the maenads which are wild, untamable women free from the heteronormative, patriarchal society. The god extends his own freedom from human gender constraints to his followers. He gains power from them just as they gain power from him. It is a symbiotic relationship that Pentheus gradually becomes aware of. 

The power struggle begins with Pentheus’ first glimpse of the man who has brought what he sees as chaos to his city of Thebes. The first thing Pentheus does is command that the man’s hands be untied. He is so confident that Dionysus will be unable to deceive him and escape. Pentheus truly believes that he is the authority in Thebes, and now that the man is in his “net,” Pentheus can do as he pleases with him as evidenced by Pentheus’ next lines to Dionysus (Harris 541). He draws attention to his prisoner’s beauty. He admires Dionysus’ soft, curly hair and pale skin. This is what Dionysus has appeared as and what Pentheus is attracted to. The strange part is that Pentheus seems to want to deny this part of himself. As acceptable as it may be socially, Pentheus disallows himself to be attracted. He admits that Dionysus is “quite tempting,” but corrects his desire by saying, “I mean to women” (Harris 541). He does not want to fall for Dionysus’ beauty or his “agile tricks” (Harris 541).

So, he tries to insult Dionysus with backhanded compliments. Dionysus’ hair is “very pretty,” but “too long for wrestling” (Harris 541). His “fair skin” is “so well looked-after,” so he does not “expose it to the sun,” meaning he does not work outside or pursue outdoor activities like sports. Overall, Pentheus is saying that Dionysus, for all his assets of beauty, he is not being a man. He is not being the great conquering hero, the majestic leader, or the strong, capable male that Pentheus is. Pentheus considers this to be an insult to Dionysus’ masculinity, not that Dionysus cares. He chose to appear as this beautiful youth and his followers are primarily female. The insult has fallen flat. Dionysus’ first words to Pentheus are to say the place where he heralds from, Mount Tmolus, is “famous for its flowers” (Harris 541). This both acknowledges that Dionysus is beautiful and one of the flowers of the world, and mocks Pentheus’ attempt at insult and wit. And it is assured that Dionysus meant to mock his enemy. His uses of “flowers” s a victorious acceptance of Pentheus’ recrimination of homosexuality. He is a god with cosmic perspective given voice by a playwright, Euripides, who displays the god’s cunning and manipulation. This mocking is unnoticed by Pentheus as he does not mention it or take offense when he responds, but he does think that Dionysus is going to wreak havoc. 

Pentheus believes that Dionysus “like[s] the darker places,/where [he] can hunt desire with [his] beauty” (Harris 541). This directly states both Pentheus‘ and Dionysus‘ positions within the play. Dionysus, in relation to Pentheus, is the temptation. For Pentheus’ crimes against Dionysus by not worshipping him, denying him, and throwing him in prison, the god will ensure that Pentheus is brought low and destroyed by his pride, and his denial of desire. Dionysus will tempt the king with his hidden desires. He appears as a beautiful youth to bait the hook. Pentheus takes the bait, and his hidden homosexual desires comes to the fore. He wants Dionysus, but for some reason believes that his desire and everything that Dionysus stands for are shameful.

Indeed Pentheus is tempted by Dionysus. He questions the disguised Dionysus on what gifts a person receives upon becoming the god’s disciple. He wants to learn what the advantages are for entering into the symbiotic relationship with the god. He asks Dionysus, “Did he possess you in your sleep / or by appearing to your eyes?” (Harris 542). Dionysus responds, “Face to face. He shared his mysteries with me” (Harris 542). There is a homosexual undertone to these words. Pentheus is asking if the god appeared as a dream which we all know can be sexual in nature. Dionysus says he appeared to him face to face, again mocking Pentheus’ recrimination of homosexuality by suggesting that Dionysus has sex with his priests and in a missionary position. Pentheus seems to get this undertone when he asks, “What lies behind these mysteries, according to you?” (Harris 542). This may be a stretch, but Pentheus could be asking how good the sex is. Dionysus chooses to be coy by responding, “That only the initiated may know” (Harris 542). Curious, Pentheus asks, “And those who are initiated, / what are the benefits they gain?” and “Do you perform your mysteries / during the day or by night?” (Harris 542 & 543). Dionysus says, “Mostly by night. / The dark is more conducive to worship” (Harris 543). So, the sexual undertone continues. Pentheus expresses some of his desire in his curiosity, but not enough for him to truly be a disciple of Dionysus. 

Pentheus is playing the unfortunate hero prayed upon by this god who is determined to do him harm. His character ends up like Leda or Europa with their Swan and Bull. Pentheus becomes the sympathetic female ingenue who is prayed upon by the powerfully sexual god. So, in his quest to appear the great masculine leader, Pentheus becomes a woman both in character and eventually, physically in dress. To prove that he is not driven by homosexual desires, but by the manly heterosexual ones, Pentheus is tempted to peer at the maenads. He wants to prove that he alone among the men of Thebes is “ man enough to dare” taking a look at the crazy women (Harris 561). He must carry out this task by dressing as a woman. This is suspiciously contradictory to his desire to be proven a man. He seems rather comfortable in women’s clothes given how he poses for Dionysus. He even asks, “How do I look? Like Ino,/or do I carry myself more like my mother, Agave?” (Harris 559). He seems more in his element away from his male pride and wrapped in the identity of a female. Dionysus says to Pentheus, “Reveal yourself as a woman!” (Harris 559). With that command, Pentheus becomes his true self that he has been denying for ages, and Dionysus succeeds in his conquest. Pentheus even says to Dionysus, “I’m all yours now” (Harris 560). It seems that Pentheus has finally become a worshiper of the god he desires, and his desire is fully expressed. 

In the modern adaptation of the play, the cross-dressing is substituted for a homosexual kiss between Dionysus and Pentheus. According to Zeitlin, “Transvestism [...] meant to the surrender of [Pentheus] royal status and masculine identity to undergo this terrible humiliation” (Hall 70). This substituted kiss was meant to operate in the same way. “The homosexual kiss is supreme revealment and concealment at the same time. Dionysus’ purpose works through Pentheus’ submission. [They] taste something that attracts and repels them” (Hall 71). The kiss did operate well as a final damning submission to Dionysus. Dionysus cradles Pentheus in his arms as he leans down to kiss him. Pentheus is held almost as one might hold a child or damsel, except for the violence inherent in the act. Dionysus holds Pentheus tightly, bending him to the side and backward. He overpowers Pentheus. Their mouths are biting as they are forced into a kiss. The kiss is pivotal moment that cements Pentheus‘ role as submissive to Dionysus‘ power, a role he both despises and desperately wants. 

The cross-dressing and kiss are both acts of Judith Butler’s performative identity. Butler describes it as “According to the understanding of identification as an enacted fantasy or incorporation, however, it is clear that coherence is desired, wished for, idealized, and that this idealization is an effect of a corporeal signification” (Butler 185). Before the pivotal moment, Pentheus was trapped. He felt desires that went against the power and control he held in high regard. Dionysus appeared with a solution of reconstructing his identity to reflect this desire, but Pentheus felt threatened. He believed by continuing to enact the strong male, he would become it, but his desire was too strong. In a sexual relationship, Pentheus wants to receive rather than give, hence the lack of a wife. The cross-dressing is a true enactment of Pentheus’ identity. He follows Dionysus’ instruction, even reveling in his commands. It is in this expression of his desire that his identity is reconstructed and gains coherence. 

If this reconstruction of identity displays the true Pentheus and remakes him into a follower of Dionysus, then why does Dionysus still kill Pentheus? How does Pentheus’ death operate within the queer theory? He is killed by the maenads who rip him into pieces, and his head is carried by his mother through the streets of Thebes. What has Pentheus failed to do that might have stopped his death, of is Dionysus simply too vengeful to care that Pentheus has found his true identity? Has Pentheus found his true identity? Pentheus’ death comes as a result of one thing. He dresses as a woman displaying himself as the female in his relationship with Dionysus. This is not his true identity. He desires to be the receptive male, not the woman. His position as kind demands that he retain some power. His cross-dressing shows a complete sacrifice of power. He dies because he fails to do his duty to his city. He fails to follow the Ancient Greek saying tied to both Apollo and Dionysus, “Know thyself.” He tried, and came close to the mark, but he gave up all control to Dionysus, essentially asking the god to do all the work. Instead of worshipping Dionysus because it was the right thing to do, Pentheus gives up all responsibility for the problem. Pentheus was a kind and a receptive lover, but he failed to construct an identity that expressed both sides. 

Works Cited

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_ Dionysus in '69._ Dir. Richard Schechner. Perf. Remi Barclay, Samuel Blazer, Jason Bosseau, Will  Shephard. Sigma III Corp., 1970. DVD.

Duberman, Martin B., Martha Vicinus, and George Chauncey. "The Ancient World."  _ Hidden  from history: reclaiming the gay and lesbian past_. New York: New American Library,  1989\. 17-64. Print. 

Foucault, Michel. _The history of sexuality_.  New York: Vintage, 1990. Print.

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McDonald, Marianne. "Suzuki Tadashi's Bacchae: No(h) Bacchae."  _ Ancient sun, modern light:  Greek drama on the modern stage. _New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. 59-73.  Print.

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Theodoridou, Natalia. “A Queer Reading of Euripides’  _Bacchae._ ”  _Platform_ 3.1: 73-89. Web. 29  November 2012.

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